Rowan Brothers

Chris and Lorin Rowan were born and raised near
Boston, Massachusetts where their more famous brother
Peter was already making a name for himself. All three
brothers played in folk, bluegrass and pop bands. In
the early 70s, through their brother s connection,
Chris and Lorin got hooked up with aspiring producer
and instrumental wizard David Grisman. Before long,
Chris and Lorin along with Grisman moved to where it
was happening San Francisco. One of the brothers
first gigs in the Bay Area was opening for the
Grateful Dead at the closing of the Fillmore West in
1971.
Shortly thereafter Clive Davis (Columbia Records) and
David Geffen (Asylum) got into a bidding war for the
talented singer/songwriters. Davis won out and the
band produced the lavish and much-neglected The Rowans
Brothers album on Columbia (1972), (reissued in 2003
on Evangeline Recorded Works) which was produced by
Grisman under the name of David Diadem. Musicians
appearing on the album included drum legend Jim
Keltner, Grisman, and the Grateful Dead s Jerry Garcia
and Bill Kreutzmann. Not long after the release of the
album Davis got canned from the label and the Rowans
were left without support. A planned second album
never materialized. David Geffen came to the rescue
and signed the brothers (now with Peter as part of the
group) to Asylum. With Peter in tow they changed their
moniker to simply The Rowans. They recorded three
albums; The Rowans (1976) (reissued on CD by
Collectors Music Choice in 2003) Sibling Rivalry
(1977) and Jubilation (1978).

Now, Chris and Lorin come full circle with the
release of their new album "Now and Then" (BOS Music),
containing 34 genre-jumping tracks. They offer a
versatile and exciting mixture of bluegrass-flavored
folk and Everly Brothers style rock and country.
Contrasting the new tracks are seventeen vintage cuts
(all previously unreleased in the US and making their
debut on CD). These tracks date from the duo s early
70s pop-rock forays with David Grisman. The album
features an impressive cast of backing players
including: Hal Blaine, Jerry Garcia, Richard Greene,
David Grisman, Jim Keltner, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil
Lesh, Mookie Siegel, Barry Sless, and many others.
Most recently the brothers performed with Phil Lesh as
members of Phil Lesh & The Hepcats with Lorin on lead
guitar/vocals and Chris on acoustic rhythm
guitar/vocals. At the start of 2003, Chris and Lorin
played the featured actor/musician roles of brothers
Cal and Fred Maddox, in the world premiere of the
musical play The Maddox Brothers and Rose (Sprekels
Theatre/Performance Center of the Arts); the story of
one of country music s most popular earliest bands to
mix country with rockabilly.